57 people have been rejected or expelled as a result of new border controls at the internal ‘Schengen’ border since new controls began.
P4 obtained these figures from the Police Directorate. The new border controsl were implemented on the 26th November, 2015, in the wake of the refugee crisis that autumn.
Section Manager, Jan Eirik Thomassen, of the Police Directorate said there are many reasons why people may be rejected or expelled.
‘ It could be that they lack passports, visas or other travel documents. It could also be that they have been convicted of a crime’, Thomassen told P4.
It has been decided that the tighter border controls will initially last until May the 11th, 2017. Justice Minister, Per-Willy Amundsen of Fremskrittspartiet (FrP), told NTB news agency in February that the security and migration situations suggest that it’s not a natural choice to abolish border controls at the present time.
‘We’ll consider in May whether a further extension is necessary. Currently, all indicators dictate that it is natural to continue with the controls’, he said.
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Austria all introduced temporary border controls in the wake of the refugee crisis.
The Norwegian controls apply to ferries arriving from Denmark, Sweden, and Germany.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
